MARCH 19, 2002

Top teams test in Barcelona

FOUR of the top teams returned to testing duties on Tuesday in Barcelona, all trying to gain an edge on the rest for the next race in Brazil. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, and Renault worked at the Spanish circuit, just days after returning from Malaysia.

Rubens Barrichello completed his first laps in the new F2002 while the team decides whether to take the car to Brazil in less than two weeks, or continue to use the F2001. The Brazilian was second fastest on the day behind McLaren test driver Alexander Wurz. The Austrian recorded the fastest lap of the day in a McLaren MP4/17, which has been hampered by reliability problems in 2002.

Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer was third quickest in the proven F2001, and also completed a limited number of laps in the new car.

Fernando Alonso shook down a new chassis (R202-04) for Renault while conducting electrical and system testing, and Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gene tested for Williams-BMW, Montoya in a FW24 and Gene in a FW23.

Jaguar will join the test on Wednesday, comparing the performance of the R3 against the R2.